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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27192848">real</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/steviesbucks/pseuds/steviesbucks'>steviesbucks</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>unholy matrimony [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Crack Treated Seriously, End Of The World Scenario (Kind Of), F/M, I Am Sorry, Major Character Death (kind of), Unreality (Kind Of)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 16:23:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,737</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27192848</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/steviesbucks/pseuds/steviesbucks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>it started at six. id woke up, noticed the sun shining- but she felt cold. she hadn’t felt cold since the music box.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Framework Leo Fitz/Music Box Jemma Simmons</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>unholy matrimony [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1941484</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>real</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello!! As of part 5, I've reached the end of my planned editions in this series. I actually think I wrote this after I'd written part 2 because I'm a sucker for a sad ending and had settled on this right at the start. I do hope those who've been reading have enjoyed this series because it's been one of my favourite things to write in a long time! I may post more drabbles if I write any but at least for my main plans, this is it. I hope you enjoy &lt;3<br/>A huge, sincere thank you to my betas <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazzarat">hazzarat</a> and <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/showzen">showzen</a> because they've supported me so much through this whole experience and I wouldn't have been able to do it without their support! Please check them out if you'd like to.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>it started at six. id woke up, noticed the sun shining- but she felt cold. she hadn’t felt cold since the music box. she wriggled deeper under the blankets, noticing that she was alone in bed. that was odd- her and leo usually got out of bed at around the same time now, in sync after so long of living together. idris pulled herself out from her pile of blankets and cushions, stretching and relishing in the way she could move and be free now, even after being out of the music box for almost a year. their towels were thrown over the door and their dressing gowns hung on the back of the door, well used over their first winter. the weather was more forgiving now, dressing gowns and woollen jumpers exchanged for sundresses and straw hats.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>she made her way quickly downstairs, baffled when she found the door left wide open. what the hell was he doing outside so early? she stepped out, forgoing shoes as she often did, and looked around. everything looked normal at first but the closer she looked, the more she realised something wasn’t right. the sky wasn’t all the same shade of blue, the grass looking more like a big block of green than individual blades of grass. the few flowers around were wilted and dead even though it was july- that was summer, wasn’t it? then why was she still so </span>
  <em>
    <span>cold</span>
  </em>
  <span>?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>id spotted leo on top of one of the little hills near their house and climbed her way up to see what he was looking at. he wasn’t looking at anything. the space where a field used to be had now crumbled away like an old wall, leaving white space in its wake. a little bit of the sky fell down into the absence of ground, vibrant blue until it passed an invisible threshold and disappeared forever. idris blinked once, twice, three times, but there was still emptiness where the flowers used to grow; she wasn’t seeing things, this was real. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“it’s started, id,” he mumbled, still watching the nothingness below them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“what’s started? what do you mean?” she shivered, turning her gaze away from the bleak white space to his face. she took note of the way his forehead wrinkled, the way his mouth hung open a little like he wanted to say something. his eyes were glassy and vacant, like he wasn’t really there with her at all. she wanted the warmth back- she was still so cold, idris wanted </span>
  <em>
    <span>leopold’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>warmth back. he’d be able to fix this, whatever it was. they’d almost be superheroes in some twisted way. she realised he’d never answered her question, so she pressed again, wanting to know why the hell the earth was crumbling around them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“i told you, it’s started. let’s go inside.” </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“i don’t know what’s started until you tell me!” she exclaimed, starting to feel a bit nervous now. she noticed the crumbling ground starting to move further towards them and she started to pull him back down the hill to safety. he followed with no real thought, her hand wrapped around his. leo was cold too; this was one of the few times she’d noticed it in the past year. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>he didn’t speak again until they reached the door, id having to practically drag him through. “it’s all over, idris. we’re done, my love, this world is done.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>that didn’t make any sense. the world couldn’t just- break like that- that isn’t what planets did! she’d learned enough from jemma talking when she was a young girl to know planets didn’t just crumble and die, especially not </span>
  <em>
    <span>earth</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>though, thinking about it, she never understood how they got to earth in the first place. she never understood a lot about this place- how she loved to walk for hours but never managed to find anybody else but how leopold managed to bring back food and clothes and beautifully wrapped trinkets that made colours when held to the sun. she didn’t ask questions, was content to just curl up with leo on the sofa while they ate fruit and listened to the radio. id never wondered how her and her love had left the world made from jemma and fitz’s brain. she never wondered how somehow, everything she ever wanted seemed to- </span>
</p><p>
  <span>ah.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...was it ever real? were </span>
  <em>
    <span>we</span>
  </em>
  <span> ever real?” her voice was quiet, hand still gripping his as they stood in the hallway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“of course we were. we still are real, id,” he assured her, seemingly snapping out of his daze for a moment to lead them both towards the sofa. leopold sat down first and she settled into him, resting her head against his shoulder as she curled up as small as she could into his lap. they were both still in their pyjamas, her pale nightie contrasting with the royal blue of his breezy shirt. she never asked where he bought them from- didn’t deem it important. id pressed her face into the soft fabric and inhaled, fingers curling into the shirt. maybe if she just held on tight, they’d go together. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“think of it like i’m going to.. a very important meeting and you have to go somewhere else, find a way to keep yourself busy while i’m gone,” he whispered, pressing a little kiss to the crown of her head. leo’s arms looped around her middle and id knew there was no way she’d leave now. she didn’t want to. if this was death, she was happy to face it with him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>she heard the house creak and rumble- the ground outside seemed to be deteriorating faster but she still had so much left she had to say, so much she never did. so much she never got to see and feel. idris never saw fireworks in the sky or walked along the beach or felt the waves crashing over her legs or learned how to dance properly. she wasn’t ready, not when she’d only been alive for such a fleeting time. she felt the knot of fear in her stomach expand, grab her head and drag her under, keeping her submerged like she was weighed down in water. id squeezed her eyes closed, gripping his shirt as he kissed her head. she wasn’t ready to let him go, not when she didn’t know where she’d go after. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“when- when will you be back? from the meeting?” her voice sounded alien to her, timid like a stray, thick with terror and uncertainty that hadn’t bothered her since her first few months living. she had to try play along, had to try convince herself that this wasn’t the last time she’d sit here on this sofa with him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“you won’t even realise i’m gone. it’ll be over before you know it.” he gently stroked her hair, winding the strands around his fingers. she heard the rattling of the pans in the kitchen, felt the sofa they were pressed together on moving slightly as the world disintegrated around them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“i’m not ready,” she pleaded, to him and the place they were in, hoping that maybe if she asked hard enough, if she wished and hoped and prayed and tried to prove that they deserved it, all this would stop. all good stories are meant to have a happy ending. why didn’t they deserve a happy ending?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“i don’t know if anybody ever is, honestly. i’m not ready yet. we still had so much to do together, i had so much left to show you. but, like i said, it’ll be over before you know it. i’ll be here the entire time, just like i always have been.” she could feel his hands shaking as they wrapped in her hair, obviously seeing something she couldn’t as the rumbling got louder, ornaments falling off the wall in the kitchen and the front wall of the house becoming less stable by the moment. id felt her eyes prick with tears, pressing herself impossibly close to leo as if he could hide her from all this. she wasn’t ready. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>he shushed her, gently moving them both back and forth like he was rocking her after a nightmare. “it’s okay, i’ve got you, i’m here.” his voice was soft and still quiet, speaking into her ear as he kissed her temple. the scent of his aftershave tickled her nose, reminding her of all the nights she’d spent with his arms around her. leo was always so gentle with her. </span>
</p><p><span>“it’s not- not fair, i’m not ready, not yet, </span><em><span>not when</span></em> <em><span>i love you, i don’t want to go yet-” </span></em></p><p>
  <span>he just kept her head pressed against his shoulder. “i wouldn’t lie to you, id, i swear- it’ll be okay, you’ll be fine. don’t worry, my love. it’s going to be okay. i wouldn’t lie.” he sounded so sure but she knew he was wrong, knew that at any time, they could be gone. this wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. she wasn’t ready. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“it’s not right- it’s not fair- leo-” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“i know. we deserve better, i know. but it’ll be okay because i love you and you love me and that’s how all the good stories end, right? all the ones we read together, this is how they end.” she couldn’t see it but idris thought that maybe the kitchen was entirely gone now. there was no more pans falling or glasses shattering and she felt like she couldn’t breathe, like all the air was being sucked out into the nothingness around them. one of his hands kept smoothing her hair while the other tangled with hers, twisting the ring on her finger. they’d never properly got married for obvious reasons but he’d given her a ring one day while they were walking in the spring breeze with his jacket wrapped around her. that was enough for both of them. as far as they were concerned, they’d stay here together with one another. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“why do we have to die? why can’t- why can’t we really be happy? have a real life, a r-real ending?” </span>
  </em>
  
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“i was happy, here with you. i’ll be happy knowing we had this. we were always real, id. this </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> our real ending.” </span>
  <span></span><br/>

  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>the sofa and the two curled up on it were the last things to be deleted from the cerebral fusion machine files. they were together. they were real. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>And there we have it! I hope you enjoyed reading. Please feel free to leave kudos, a comment or to message/send me an ask on tumblr at docjemsimmons! Have a lovely day &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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